underwriter

business analyst

loan officer

intern

portfolio analyst

Live-Oak-Bank

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working at Live Oak Bank was actually LEAVING Live Oak “Bank” since the customer success manager job is a glorified name for “former Verizon employee.”  Having a background in banking won’t help you in this role one bit.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful part about working at Live Oak Bank as a Customer Success Manager is finding out that once you’re hired, reality hits, and regardless of how “great” the benefits are, or whatever, you’re now stuck in a job that was never a good match because of poor management description of the job.  This is BARELY a banking job; it’s a call center job.  It’s rare that anything goes right, with outstanding tickets usually never getting resolved, so get used to being over worked and under payed with a middle school clique supervisor duo.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
What is the work environment and culture like at Live Oak Bank?  They preach equity, diversity and inclusion, but every other day, I was asked by someone in my department (or by someone I’d never met) why I always “dressed up” for work in 4” heels and career wear.  The one day I wore sneakers, I had a male co-worker “attagirl” me.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day at Live Oak Bank as a customer success manager consists of showing up very early just to score a parking spot ANYWHERE, finding out that my lunch break is from 3-4 o’clock for my 9-6 shift, always being paranoid since both my supervisors were listening in on my calls, and praying that I’d make it through the work day without being asked why I dress up for work, while being reminded that employees may wear whatever they’d like.

From an outsider's perspective, the place is a dream...on-site restaurants, they used to provide dog pens, gyms and trainers, table massages, dry cleaning pick-up, amazing benefits and pay. Sounds great, until you realize it's because they don't want you to have to leave the campus. The CEO's BIG mantra is, "work hard, play hard, " which is all well and good until you are burnt out. You are tethered to your laptop 24/7. All work calls are forwarded to your personal phone with SMALL reimbursement. You are expected to answer calls from clients, lawyers, managers, partners, at any point...even while on "vacation." If a client needs ANYTHING, you are expected to give up your family/free time to help the client. It's a nationwide company, so even though you are headquartered on the East Coast, you are expected to stop eating dinner to answer your client's questions who lives on the West Coast. The push to get loans closed is at the risk, stress levels, and health of the employees. The employees, in general, are very clicky. Don't expect anyone to have your back if you aren't part of their click, especially the managers. The departments are constantly changing procedures to figure out what works, but it's ceaseless chaos. It's a good place for someone right out of college, who has no outside of work commitments or family, so the majority of employees are pretty young.

The company itself is definitely a "wild wild west" environment, which is what they described during the interview process.  Very little structure/processes in place, which is what I was brought in to help with, but they do not accept change very well.  It took three years to get something as simple as a roadmap called out from teams and they still deviated from it.  

Their willingness to let you have a life outside of work is great.  Their campus is beautiful and made me want to move there.  As mentioned, management didn't think things through and seem distracted to go in many different directions before finishing the task at hand.  They started to get better but have a long way to go.  Many many restructurings and "job eliminations" while I was there for three years.  Most made little sense as I received above performance reviews every year, I was there but still was not secure.   

Overall, the campus, amenities, health benefits were awesome.  

They promote an environment where everyone is a team and a family. When in realistic standards everyone is just trying to make sure they impress someone so they don't lose their job. Some of the clients were way out of timezone causing you to have to do meetings at midnight/1am or some crazy hours, when we were told it's 8am-5pm. 
Management was okay, depending on what department you were apart of. There are some good managers and some that are hands off and only come in when there is a problem. 
Overall it was a comfortable job, and it was fine until a something happened with some of the way high up people. Then it seemed everyone was under a microscope and it became what felt like a negative space.  They did have flexibility to work at home if needed, and let you go to appointments or pick up kids etc. 

Review Loan Files against Credit Memos, Loan Approvals and SBA Authorizations to make sure that all loan documents comply with SBA loan requirements. Coordinate with Lender’s Counsel, Loan Officers and Processors to acquire items needed for clear to close. Review HUDs, Disbursement Memos, and generate fees for loan closing. Trainer for Laser Pro System.

Amazing peers, but awful management. They blatantly lie on a regular basis, and have no love for the people they put on death marches(working till midnight). They also skimp on compensation b/c there is no other game in town.

That said, the culture is great because the people outside of management are genuinely amazing. Middle managers to their best to shield employees from the evil disingenuous morons in the C-Suite.

The kitchen and cooks were very friendly and helpful. There were times when you were required to cover other positions while still maintaining your own station and responsibilities. The benefits were some of the best I have seen but the low hourly pay was hard to compensate for the benefits.

I genuinely enjoyed working at Live Oak and it was great as a starter job. Live Oak grew a little bit too fast and the company culture suffered as a result. Performance didn't seem to matter after a time and there was a lot of dead weight in middle management. 

If you live or want to live in Wilmington, NC this is THE PLACE to work! This bank is growing hand over fist and you are compensated accordingly. There is not one negative thing to say about this place.

From the people working there to the overall culture that you are apart, Live Oak is a spectacular institution to work for. Great work/life balance and amazing benefits.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Underwriter 3 salaries reported	$69,333 per year
Business analyst 4 salaries reported	$55,250 per year
Loan officer 3 salaries reported	$100,000 per year
Intern 3 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Portfolio analyst 3 salaries reported	$76,000 per year

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